HERE IS YOUR CONTENT FOOD! EAT IT, MY FRIENDS.

JUST A LITTLE NOTE (!!READ IT!!) : A bit of a shorter chapter today, I had to split it. Nothing much happens in this chapter besides wholesome Ratchet moments...and a bit of Clank segment at the end, so I suggest you read the whole thing in order to understand next chapter. ENJOY these moments while they last....

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[Ratchet]

If there was one thing Ratchet knew, it was that Kaden and Phoebe were trying their best to spend some time with him.

It has been a week and a half since he spent that time building with Kaden, and ever since then, they have been spending more and more time with him.

It was weird, after keeping away from them and all. Then again, they kept away from him too. Maybe they did feel guilty. Maybe he felt guilty in a way. In any case, he was slowly breaking out of his shell around them, and genuinely enjoying the time that he spent with them. Phoebe was so sweet with her words, always spending her time chatting with him, gardening with him, and even asked if he could bake with her. He hesitantly agreed,

"I don't know Phoebe...I don't know if I will be really good at baking. You saw how I was with the plants that day before yesterday." Phoebe huffed, "I assure you, you aren't that bad!" she glared playfully, "As long as you don't tear into my cake like you did to my Asters!" Ratchet winced, rubbing the back of his neck, picking up a bag of flour in one hand, "No guarantees there. Wherever I go, trouble follows."

Phoebe chuckled at this, taking a big bowl out of one of the bottom cabinets. "That's why we are starting with something simple." she said, laying out a recipe book opened to one, specific page, "Chocolate chip cookies, the basics."

Ratchet looked down at the book, counting the steps in the recipe, "13 steps...Just for cookies?"

Phoebe looked down at the book again, before looking back at him, "Yep!"

Ratchet groaned internally, already resigning himself to his very unfortunate fate. He thought yesterday's scolding was bad after killing Phoebe's Aster flower? Just wait until he spilled the flour on himself (and quite possibly, the floor.)

Even though the "scolding" part wasn't true. They were just joking around at the time.

He still did not want flour on himself, or the clean floor.

He watched as Phoebe expertly measured out the ingredients, waiting until Ratchet picked up the last ingredient, the flour. He frowned, staring right back at her, before opening the bag and gently, oh so gently, poured it into the measuring cup. Putting it back down when on the counter when he was done. Phoebe smiled kindly, lifting up the bowl,

"Great, now we can-"

*Crack...*

She knocked an egg off the counter when lifting the bowl. She stared down at the floor in silence, Ratchet also staring, before looking back up at her with a smirk, "It wasn't me this time!" and chuckled lowly.

She promptly took a handful of flour and threw it at him.

Needless to say, it took them almost two hours to make a successful batch of cookies, laying them on a nice red plate for anyone to take. Turns out, cookies that survived a flour war were actually pretty good. On the other hand, Ratchet knew he would need a shower after this, considering Phoebe kept throwing it at him for laughing. It wasn't his fault, at least. She kept breaking the eggs and getting eggshells in the mixture.

Now here they were, eating their post-flour-war cookies as they heard the front door open. Ratchet looked at Phoebe in fear, she looked back at him in fear as well. Kaden was home.

"I smell cookies, who-" He paused when he entered the kitchen, looking at the both of them, who were now munching guiltily on their cookies while watching him. He looked around at the flour that was still on the floor.

"I don't even wanna know."

Phoebe then picked up a deformed cookie, and threw it at him. Missing him by just a fraction as he turned and ran, going up the stairs.

"We'll show him next time..." She muttered, and Ratchet did not doubt her for a second.

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The next day Phoebe and Kaden were off at work, which means Ratchet had his own day to do as he pleased.

He decided to hang with Alister for the day, watching that man train his recruits as he did countless times before. Now he was more like a commentator, if nothing else.

"Now we have recruit number seven...miss a shot by a whole 5 feet!"

Oliver chuckled quietly, "I think you're gonna make them wanna throw their wrenches at you." Ratchet grinned, "Good. I will be a moving target! Extra points!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. He couldn't blame his friend. Some of the recruits were...in a way, bad learners. They never listened, messed up all the time, and never even tried most of the time. Oliver could see why his own father got so frustrated all the time with them. It was so easy to see...

But unlike himself, Ratchet was not quiet about his thoughts.

It wasn't unwelcome though. It was amazing to see Ratchet break out of his shell and let loose a bit. If one didn't know him, they wouldn't be able to guess that he was a lonely boy with no memories of his past. He acted naturally. He acted like who he was supposed to be. But still, it made Oliver wonder if this was the true Ratchet he was seeing, or if it was just a product of what he went through after he lost his memories. All in all, he was a really great friend. Yeah, maybe he was brash sometimes, or sarcastic, even intimidating when he wanted to be. But in the end, he was a loyal companion to all. He smiled as he watched Ratchet stand up again,

"Oh my- I literally can't watch this. I bet I could do way better!"

Oliver sighed, "I don't know man, you? With a wrench? Or blaster? I don't think-" he paused, thinking for a moment, "Never mind, I revoke that statement. All hell would break loose with you. Between these guys and you, you'd probably beat them by miles."

At this point, he was only causing Ratchet's ego to grow.

"I know, right? I definitely could!"

He sat down once more next to Oliver, watching the recruits take a break. Alister and Lucas walk over to them, grimacing to themselves. Most likely displeased by the progress of their recruits. Oliver practically flew down the metal stairs to the end of the stands, jumping high by his father, who was on the other side of the barrier.

"Your recruits, suck!" he said, eloquently. Lucas shook his head, but smiled nonetheless "C'mon buddy, you can't expect so much from people who are just learning.

"Yeah, but they have been learning for weeks..." Oliver said. Ratchet walked up beside him, looking at Alister, "I agree. I bet I could do way better. Probably Oliver too."

The caramel-furred Lombax cheered, "Yes, I could! Dad! Give me your wrench!"

"Yeah. No, you're not getting it,"

"Awww." he turned towards Alister, who also shook his head, before turning to Ratchet, "This place sucks. Let's go somewhere better!"

They all watched as Oliver sprinted out of the arena, stopping just outside, waiting for Ratchet. He turned towards the two adults, "I better go follow him. Goodbye!" but he paused, turning towards Alister, "I will see you later, right?" and Alister nodded, "Yes, I will be over around sundown. Be home then, you hear?"

Ratchet saluted, "Sir, yes sir!" before following after his friend.

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"There's such a thing as a hoverboarding contest?"

Oliver leaned over his shoulder, looking at the flyer that he took off a nearby street pole. "Oh, yeah. They have those every couple weeks. There's a different prize with each one. Nothing big, but anyone can compete. They pair you up with people around your age, and you just race against them on a course they made." he pointed to the lettering at the bottom, "It says here that the next contest will be at the beginning of next week...and the prize is 100 bolts! That's not a big amount but hey, you're broke so..."

"You think I should do it?"

"Hell yes! I'd totally watch you, and I'm pretty sure everyone you know and I know would too. Hoverboarding isn't taken lightly around here. It's a well-loved activity for all." he said, before frowning, "But you don't have a hoverboard..."

Ratchet sighed, about to throw the flyer in a nearby trash bin, but Oliver stopped him, "Woah now. Don't do that! You see, you're in luck!"

Ratchet raised a brow at him, and he continued, "I have an old one you can use, the problem is, one of the heating coils inside is broken, and probably a lot of other things, too. It won't start at all..."

Ratchet held a hand up to his chin, "I can try to fix it before then." he said, determined, "If I wind up competing and I win, how 'bout we split the bolts?"

Oliver perked up, "Deal!"

He took Ratchet's other arm (the one not holding the flyer) and dragged him back to his house. It took a while until they got there, Oliver bending down to open the garage door with his arm. He looked around at the items scattered inside, "Okay...let's see. Where did I put it?"

As Oliver dug around in his garage, Ratchet looked around at his surroundings. Until this point, he has never been to Oliver's house. If he had to use a word to describe it, it would be cozy. It was a small, two-story house with a metal fence out front. The exterior of the house itself was a warm brown color, similar to Oliver's fur color. While Oliver was a copy of his father, Lucas. It seemed that the house was no different, everything matched, it seemed.

The small garage, next to the house, seemed to be filled with numerous abandoned projects and pieces of scrap metal alike. It was nowhere near as neat as Kaden and Phoebe's garage. It was obvious that there were no mechanics in Oliver's family that would be making any projects.

Oliver kept digging through the garage, until he stopped, and paused. The sound of the front door opening and shutting again made him stand up and walk out the garage, next to Ratchet.

"Mom?" he asked,

A small Lombaxian woman peeked her head out from the side of the garage, she had dark brown fur with white stripes on her cheeks and arms. Her eyes were a unique gold color. She smiled, seeing her son, before she looked over at Ratchet, quickly moving in front of the,, "Oh! Look at you! You must be Kaden and Phoebe's kid!"

That made Ratchet pause, "Uh-I am not-" but was cut off when she started talking to Oliver, "Is this your friend you keep talking about? Ratchet? Was it?" and Oliver whined, "Mooom..."

She held her hand out to Ratchet, who took it without hesitance, "Nice to meet you! My name is May Abletress. but please, just call me May."

"Nice to meet you as well, May." Ratchet replied, letting go of her hand as she stepped back. She looked at her son, who went back to looking for his hoverboard. "Top left shelf. Be careful you two."

Ratchet looked surprised, looking back at his friend, "What can I say, she knows where everything is..."

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They opened up the back of the hoverboard after they finally managed to pull it out. Ratchet looked at what was inside. He grimaced. This was going to be way harder compared to fixing a communicator. He gently started poking a prodding at the faulty wiring and frayed coils."

"What the hell did you do to this thing?"

Oliver whispered, "I kinda ran it into the fence in my front yard. I never touched it again. It also got banged up all the times I dropped it while looking for my bike."

Ratchet sighed, looking over more damage.

"I'm gonna fix it."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I can improvise...right?"

Oliver winced, "As long as the board can fly and it only has normal thrusters and boosters then yeah, you can use it." he paused, "But that is very dangerous. The competition organizers provide typical helmets, leg and arm guards, and shoulder pads. But...I don't think anyone wants you to get hurt."

Ratchet nodded, "I'm sure I will be fine. I will test it out before I race, if it makes you feel any better, if it doesn't work by the day before the race then I won't race."

"But you won't be able to test it on the track! What if you try to stop and it fails? And what if someone pushes you and the hoverboard breaks?"

"Then that would be my fault."

Oliver was about to say something, before he cut himself off, "Blast, you gotta get home. It's almost time for dinner anyway. Let me know how fixing the hoverboard goes!"

Ratchet nodded, shutting the panel back in place as he carried it under his arm, waving a quick goodbye to Oliver before jogging back home.

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He made it back just a bit after sunset, missing his set curfew (by Kaden and Phoebe) by 20 minutes or so. (considering how far away Oliver's house was), placing the broken hoverboard next to the front door before entering his passcode into the panel (Kaden and Phoebe gave him his own passcode weeks ago) and entered the house, only to be greeted by Phoebe, she sighed, "I was just about to go and see if you were back yet, you're usually back way before then." She said, "But it doesn't matter now, Alister is already here and the table is set. I hope you're hungry!"

Ratchet nodded eagerly as he slid off his shoes and followed her to the kitchen, Kaden and Alister already talking at the table. Kaden paused when he saw him, "Well, look who's late to the party. Where did you go today?"

Ratchet sat down, pulling his chair in, "Well, I was at the arena for a while watching Alister train his recruits-" he side-eyed the man, "-in which recruit number seven sucks by the way." Alister's eyes widened while Kaden and Phoebe laughed, "And then Oliver brought me back to his place where we looked at his hoverboard."

Kaden winced, "I sure hope you didn't fly that thing without protection and supervision, right?"

Ratchet sighed, "Nah, it was broken anyway." he didn't bring up the fact that he had it and that he wanted to fix it to...participate in a race that may or may not be dangerous and or fatal to him, if worst comes to worst. He held that conversation until after dinner, Even so, Alister decided to try and start up a conversation with him, which led to some more bickering while they were on their last pieces of food.

"So, recruit number seven-"

"Sucks."

Alister sent a playful glare toward him, while Kaden and Phoebe watched in amusement, "Well, why do you think that, Ratchet?"

"They missed a shot by like, 10 feet, I swear!"

"Now, it wasn't that far..."

"It was. I saw it. With my two crystal clear eyes."

Alister rolled his eyes, finishing his meal while Ratchet did the same. They all talked for a bit after cleaning up, genuinely enjoying each other's company as the night went on. And before they knew it, Alister had to leave. He bid his goodbyes before leaving the house. Kaden and Phoebe sighed, tired from their days but still awake nonetheless. They watched Ratchet fondly as he came back over to the table to sit. He huffed, "I actually wanted to tell you guys something." he stated bluntly, Phoebe leaned forward in curiosity, "What is it?"

"I might as well just show you..." he trailed off, pulling the competition flyer out of his pocket, laying it on the table, and pushing it towards them "Oliver and I saw it today while we were walking around the city."

Kaden looked up from the flyer, "You don't have a hoverboard though." he raised a brow at him, before realizing, "Oliver gave you his, didn't he?"

Ratchet rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah..sorta. It's currently out of commission though. I offered to fix it at first."

"Well, what's wrong with it?" Phoebe asked, concerned.

Ratchet sighed, "A-A lot actually. But I said that if I can't fix it in time then I won't race. I just thought it would be nice to try."

Phoebe looked at Kaden, who looked right back at her. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on between them. Ratchet looked back and forth between the two, uncertain. After a while, they both turned towards him. Kaden leaned forward, pointing towards the flyer on the table, keeping his pointer finger on top of it as he stared at Ratchet. "This is very dangerous. Considering the fact that you're not experienced, and on top of that, not having a working hoverboard, to begin with." Ratchet frowned, but said nothing, "However-" Kaden stared at him seriously, "-I am willing to help you fix it if we can. And then I want to see how well you're able to balance on it and use it." he sighed, "I used to hoverboard, and I know one slip-up can lead to very bad injuries."

Phoebe leaned forward to add, "We don't want you to get hurt, but if it is what you want to do, you can."

Ratchet beamed, ears perking up in excitement as they both leaned back, "You got yourself a deal!"

Both adults smiled, watching as Ratchet pulled the flyer back over to himself, looking it over in excitement.

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It was easier said than done....

Thankfully, Kaden was working on his new project from his garage that day, watching warily as Ratchet analyzed the inside of the hoverboard, and going back and forth between the scraps and parts that Kaden offered him that could possibly help him fix it. Kaden kept a close eye on him while working on his own project.

Ratchet, meanwhile, started disassembling the back of the hoverboard, taking each component out with care. The heating coil was still in working condition as long as he cleaned it up and replaced the wires and metal plates surrounding it to keep it in place. On the other hand, he should have also suspected that there were two gravity coils on each side of the board, which were also out of place. The wires surrounding them were frayed, and a bit of electrical tape would do, and he would also have to solder the metal parts to the internal part of the hoverboard. Thankfully Kaden gave him electrical tape already. But he didn't have the tools to solder the metal.

Kaden walked over, "Everything okay?"

Ratchet explained his observations, Kaden nodding along.

"Gotcha. Well, I can solder it for you. Everything else you can do on your own, I assume." he winced, "But remember, if it's not safe to use. You're not participating."

Ratchet saluted the man, starting to fix the wires instead.

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Two days later, he was testing the hoverboard with Kaden and Phoebe in their backyard, which was spacious enough for him to hover and try to balance, but not move.

Alister was able to offer them to use the arena tomorrow, since no recruits are trained on Wednesday, first, Ratchet needed to practice his balance. and currently he was standing on top of the board, eager, yet anxious at the same time. Phoebe watched from afar, rubbing her hands in nervousness. Kaden was guiding him through it, ready to catch him if necessary.

"Okay, now you kick the kickstand back to turn the board on and start hovering."

Ratchet hesitated, before following the man's instructions, the hoverboard clicking before engaging its gravity coils, the whole board moving up a foot or two in the air. Kaden let go of his hand as he got off the ground, Ratchet standing on the board hesitantly, "There you go, kid! You're a natural!" Kaden said, Ratchet smiling at the man. The Ratchet frowned,

*Click*

*Click...*

...and the board fell back down, Ratchet going with it, Kaden catching him in time. The man sighed in relief, before looking over at the hoverboard. "Broken gravity coils." He said, lifting Ratchet up,

"Back to the garage, kid." Ratchet sighed, picking up the hoverboard in defeat.

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[Clank]

A couple days have passed since he woke up his creation, XR. If he was being honest with himself, it was odd.

XR's mannerisms were a stark contrast to Ratchet's own, heck, he barely even smiled. However, he should have expected this. Since XR was very new to the universe. But it still did not make sense...XR held all the memories that Clank had of Ratchet. He even coded XR's memory to specifically remember things Ratchet did and have his personality and yet...XR acted almost like a baby.

They couldn't walk at first, stumbling over their legs like a newborn. Pale, green eyes (almost drained of all color, since Clank couldn't obtain the exact color of his friend's eyes) looking at him like he himself, was an oddity. XR had yet to speak, and Clank was uncertain if his creation was an utter failure at this point.

But he could be patient, and wait a little longer.

Days turned into a week, XR still not muttering anything to him. Only walking around and following him aimlessly. It unnerved Sigmund to no end as the pale, green eyes stared at him blankly, before following his creator. Clank would even turn and command his creation to stay put and stop following him, only to be met with a blank stare as XR did what he was told. Being found in a lonely corner somewhere, saying nothing. The position reminded Clank of when Ratchet used to wake up at night, panicked because of a night terror. All in all, XR only seemed to inherit a few of Ratchet's actions, especially while in distress.

XR only proved to be a wandering presence wherever they went. Watching Clank do his tasks and read one of the numerous books scattered around. The only thing they did that wasn't wandering around like a ghost, was read by themselves. Quietly.

This unnerved Clank, a lot. Ratchet was never this quiet, and never really read a book like XR does. It was odd, and Clank couldn't explain why.

At first, Clank thought that XR's systems were still booting up and that it would take a while for them to finally act like they should. Like Ratchet. Not an emotionless robot like this. Not someone so complacent and quiet.

Clank wanted them to be bold, sarcastic, and laugh with Clank like Ratchet always did. He wanted them to be who he intended them to be. And XR wasn't that. XR was just XR, and nothing more. An emotionless being with no purpose.

Clank was about to shut down his creation and start from scratch. until two days later. It was out of nowhere. XR just walked up to him while he was reading, Sigmund a few feet away trying to fix the cracked floor. Clank looked up, startled, when he heard a meek voice right next to him,

"Creator?" XR spoke, "Why are we here?"

Clank looked at them in bewilderment, "Creator? No, you can call me Clank."

"Clank...?" XR drawled, before their eyes widened "Oh, Clank!"

Clank's optics widened, watching as a small smile appeared on XR's face, "It's good to see you again, pal!"

What...?

"XR...Do you remember the...incident?"

XR paused, their processors turning slowly in their head, "I died." they said simply, "General Alister Azimuth killed me. And you brought me back!" they said, bluntly, "But I don't remember anything after that...What happened to me, Clank?"

Clank paused, "Uh-you...You fought with General Azimuth to protect the Great Clock. Something bad happened and you almost suffered a fatal injury. You're only a living being, after all. You almost couldn't withstand the force of the Clock."

XR nodded, "Oh, I see." they said simply, "Is...is Alister okay?"

Clank froze in place, before saying, "He is fine. He managed to escape with his life..."

"Then why are we still here?"

"Well, to oversee the Clock, of course."

XR frowned silently, "But...when are we going home?"

...

"Soon." Clank replied simply, turning the other way.

XR stood there alone in the hallway, they did not like it here. They had a bad feeling here. There was something here that told them to leave. His creator...No, Clank...Was acting weird. Perhaps it was because he almost died? Yeah! That had to be what it was all about. He couldn't even think about what it would be like to lose Clank! He was his best friend! His only family! And once they see Alister again, they would make sure that they would reconcile, they could be family too! They wouldn't have to be lonely as long as they have Clank, Alister, and their many friends. They were excited for the day they would get to leave!

They shook their head. Those thoughts were for another day. For now, they could help Clank oversee the Clock for a while. The quicker they get done, the quicker they could leave, after all.

They shook their head, following their friend before he walked out of sight. Clank sighed as he heard XR's footsteps behind him. He could feel those eyes staring right into the bag of his small, metallic head.

Ratchet never followed, he always followed Ratchet. Why was this different?

He turned around, "Why don't you go read or something? Or even rest, you are still recovering from your injuries. Remember how you had difficulty walking?"

XR stopped, only for their ears to go down, "But reading is boring! And my tail is sore from laying on that table!" they whined.

Ratchet never whined like that. He always used to grumble and fight back. Never whine like that. He could be dramatic, yes, but not complain like a 5-year-old would...

"I need some space, taking care of the Clock is a very important, meticulous task. You must understand."

XR looked at him, seemingly hurt by his words. "O-okay, pal. Whatever you say!" before they turned and walked down the corridor quietly. Their back was ramrod straight, and their arms came up to cross against their chest, as if they were hugging themselves. Their ears dropped.

Clank watched as they left. Maybe XR was, indeed, a failure.

...

If XR stayed the same in the coming weeks. He supposed he could always start from scratch.

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So, what do you think about XR?

Anyways, you all got something to look forward to in the next chapter, and that is the hoverboard race. Will it end in a victory? A total disaster? Or something else? You'll see when the next chapter comes...

Oh, and don't think that this hoverboard race has nothing to do with the plot, it totally does. Just figured you all will like it before some new things come into play. So look forward to that!

PSA(!!READ!!) - there is something I would like to address...I have gotten some PMs asking about the story and where it will head, specifically about romance. My response to that is there will be NO romance in this story, at least it is not planned for any time in the future. The reason why people were asking this was simply because of Oliver and Ratchet, being as close as they are. I, personally, am not against this ship, hell, I'm not against any ship, but I was never planning on writing it, ever. It will not be in the story. They are just very close friends. The only relationships will be the ones already established and, even then, there won't be any heavy romantic things going on. At this moment, there is simply no need for romance between characters. The ones that are in the story, and the ones that come into play, are not planned for any romance side-plot. For these individuals who want to ship, there is always a possibility of me making a one-shot book for all your needs. But I WILL NOT write any explicit things AT ALL. PSA OVER :)

See you next chapter! It will be a long one, so idk if it will be out tomorrow. But you won't have to wait super long. Hope you're excited about the race!